Decatur Daily Democrat, Volume 38, Number 177, Decatur, Adams County, 26 July 1940 — Page 12

FRIDAY. JIIYM 1940.

French Quinn Recalls City Sixty Years Ago In Story . .. .a >• a...« •

Killy years ago a birds eye ♦lew of Decatur would quite a different vh-w from one of ibis day The court house waa built, pralsebe but the Jail "»• ”f bur and stood on the southwest corn•r of the court house yard and ususlly ”Hhlnnyhonus' waa Ilnar, anted there, a victim of the flowiaa bowl, end he be singing ' Khoo fly don't bother me" Across the street east waa a row of frame buildings of unhappy architecture and I can remember no store but Ueopold Yagers furniture store wherein be made coffins by hand those hind that bulged owl near the top and slanted toward the bottom, crude copies of those the undent Egyptians used, and they always struck terror to my heart. Mow I remember that Hammy Flans did have a store there abutting on

I - " -- - ---- - ■ = ’ STOP while tending the Fair anti refresh tourself with that delicHcu* 11 DEAL Ice Cream Mat *r aIM» 'Ugge»t *«su Mop in on your way home and take along a quart for the family ■ I ASK FOR IDEAL BI TTER I i 1 Ideal Dairy Products Co. | N. Second St. Noah Rich

11 ■——— SEE YOU AT THE FAIR CHRYSLER PLYMOUTH The Outstanding i Cars of Today Come In For a Demonstration Service * Our service department is manned by factory schooled mechanics with a complete set up of Chrysler tools. Bring your car to us — you’ll like our work and our reasonable prices. Our Used Cars Make Good or We Oo Phil L Macklin & Co. Went MadiMHi SL Decatur, Ind. I

I the alley, but I 10l gel what he < gold el. ept that We could buy i chewing gum that was Just one ’ . degree removed from lhe «lienees I ( of shoemaker's was that many a | lad »t that day Mltched from a i I ehoemaher's bench and went lino | < out ealmrnt to chew. However, the fire m<ml tame a- 1 > long one day and wiped lhe whois half bhx k out l>n the north on lhe same side «f the street was another blot k of the same kind of architecture and lhe firs god played havoc there Every etreel In town waa mud eat epi Main street where tor several blocks boulders had been laid and while wagons were ' kept from sinking In th.- mud yet : ' you can bet It waa a "rocky road to j hublln." The Melhodlal folks had j a little frame church on Sorth First street and the Presbyterian

Committeeman wWI W* L James Mui-pby Is chairman of the lights committee of the !•««• Deca tur Free Klreet Fair and Agricultural Khow He will cooperate with city light officials. folks one at Mercer avenue where lheir present church la now It wan like losing a friend when they lore that old church down. The church was of brick, mellowed by time long and narrow with clinging ♦lnes covering it and lhe Inside somehow had a great pea< efutoess although the bell in the church tower had the weak inefficient not es of a common dinner bell, but If lhe faithful stood for It why should I have worried The Catholic church with Its tall steeple lower Ing so high heavenward was ma p-sth to our country eyes. Th<- shade trees had tommen t.-d Io grow and folks were forced to protect them with wooden frames around them for cows and pigs and an occasional horse roamed the street. All yards had fences and. oh you lovers of beauty bow you would have teteled In contemplation of those fences Board fen ces and picket fences Iron and even rail fences (worm fences, you know I Big fences and little ones, high and low ones, aew ones and broken down disgusted owes, painted ones and naked ones. Gates that busied you on dark nights which might be forgiven then, for did they not for many years of length permit the lover to swing on them and caress them as loving hearts bld their fond good nights? Hidewalks of board, some two inch planks placed lengthwise but mostly cross wise and smaller ones, snd nails came out and boards warped and you might step on one end and the other end hit

DECATUR DAILY DEMOCRAT, DECATUR. INDIANA

you In the nose sttd they became ' busted arid so often In bed repair. If the night was dark and you bad no lantern and the mud In the | street was deep you were com plotely ouf of luck Cow pastures at the edges of the town snd In grass time little boys drove the cows from the stables which were i at the back of every lot. to them each morning and . veiling and golly, what a chore that was when a baseball game of rounders was on Most all the folks bad a horse | In their ba. k yard stable and a | one-seated buggy and some sported carriages that were pretty "tony/' Piled up In the back yard were yards aad yards << cord wood, for sewers were simply not and cellars out of the question and no funi aces, “box" stoves were the rule. I and a cross cut saw and a buck saw were -necessary Implements of warfare as many a one now living can furnish testimony.

• wl fiKlw ' • -rs r**:y-g f’* “your family^ l is entitled to all the conveniences of a MODERN HOME i

WILL-BURT Stokers FURNACES SPOUTING t VISIT OUR SHOW ROOM

Ashbaucher’s Tin Shop I FipST STREET DECAWR . ' i •

CONCESSIONS HEAD HAS A BIG FAIR JOB i ■— ConccHMioncrM Kind Decatur Fair Not An Ewy One To -Book” Os all the job* and tasks in stag Inga fair, such as will makes its appearance on lhe streets of De I catur here next week one stands I out as Herculean — that of con , cessions chairman Thia post has been efflc lently handled during lhe past two fairs by Robert Helm. local clothier Weeks before the fair opens It is the duty of the com .•salons < heir

Live in comfort by bringing your home up to the modern standards of living. Enjoy the advantages you always wanted and make your home more than just a place to live. Whether you are remodeling your present home — or building a new one we can take care of your every need. We specialize in building and heating equipment and employ a staff of skilled workmen for every job. Improvements can Im* made through the FHA with easy monthly payments. We will be glad to assist in this matter if you wish. , Come in and talk your plans over with us. We know we can help you and our years of experience is your assurance of honest and efficient work.

. egg tn start lining up" his part | of the celebration. Advertising lu th* Billboard pule | licathm «f thworld and th. handling of > l, l‘" of con..- I. hut a small part of the < halrtnan • Job Hhirr n«Hhlnit hut th* «’“» clrurwst of Is m-1 I dors.-d by the fair and every effort t is made t« keep Ils spotless record unhlemiah.d Mt Helm must reI llgiously Investigate all concessions I that apply I "Graft and gambling Joints antalaa. at the Bm-atur fair snd have | ! heen for lhe past several years Whlb now and then on. does slip through th- fair hoard and mak-s Ila entrance. It Is qul. kly atlflecl before the fair progresses more than half way The reputation of lhe Heritor ' fair and the cuurteoue and fair I manner In which they have been . treated have resulted In .oncess loners pulling forth .I hu ■!■ ' l etxl

I for gpnee llcMcktng the Decatur fair la no i logger the simple problam that it, once was Now a < owesaloner must prtev. th. <iualiiM '»« >"• “*»• I ceaalon and its resultant aitrac|tion and enierta nmriti before he la given a >|»a«»' A huge plati in the hands of the : ' < o'n> eaaiona . halt man proclaims to the lair Ixmid and .oncesskuier alike th. exact spot at which hla equipment will rest during the ’ event* Hr I* ths<iK»*i 1 <»rdili|dx •! •* eool front rale This ..die. tom of | money Is also In the hands of the .oti.easlona .hairman and other members of the fair Imard furlh er adding to his part In the at aging of the big show. * A complete’ list of th** «on< essions and stands at this year a lair may b* found elsewhere in this edition of the Hally Hemocral <e voted to the fair and lair goers.

AIR J Conditioning Z n t W® '“I JjJJ - o ROOFING SIDING WELCOME TO THE FAIR • I

HOMKtOXIXC , .CUSTIM-EI. know will h< HMMlquarters t. ir groups may be "J Os places It may f* , J Stock tent at th.- Uw .* I Ism-ml firms donate t . , ' house squat- or ' •rs. All In all fah have realised 'he yjj ! home-coming ..e..-i.- Io the ad.l.-d ei>t|, -..la.m _ . phaaa. | The spirit frlsgflqd <-ompanlonshl|. . he equalled rh< y hs.e ! their delull’ (hl. Il gle becomes a p.rt nf .J, fair wllhmit strn. v needed Io prom o- —• _ First puidii normal ( of the Allegh-n Wa . Ypsilanti. Mta-higaa